NO NEW PRISONS DESPITE STRICTER LAWS

Ageing Facilities Will Be Renovated, Ottawa Says

OTTAWA - The Harper government has no long-term plans to build new
prisons to house an anticipated influx of offenders convicted under
the Conservatives' tough-on-crime initiatives, despite setting aside
up to $245-million for at least one extra penitentiary immediately
after coming to power two years ago.

According to a Correctional Service of Canada capital plan, existing
prisons, which are ageing and already full, would be renovated and
expanded to meet increasing demands over the next decade if need be,
but "at this time there are no major prisons envisaged."

The Correctional Service acknowledges, however, that "with the
implementation for various government initiatives in tackling crime,
an increase in the offender population may result."

The information was provided recently upon request to New Democrat MP
Charlie Angus, who was seeking written details from Public Safety
Minister Stockwell Day on the impact of federal anti-crime measures
on Canada's penitentiaries.

The Conservatives ran on a platform of putting more criminals in
prison and keeping them there longer.

Criminologist Neil Boyd said he does not think the government needs
to build any new facilities because its new laws, to date, will not
have much of an impact on the number of people sent to prison.

Canada's 54 federal penitentiaries, for prisoners serving sentences
of two years or more, housed 13,200 offenders in 2006-2007, at a cost
of about $82,000 each. Most facilities are more than 40 years old and
already are operating near capacity.

The government's key initiative, which passed in February, would
increase automatic prison terms for a variety of gun-related crimes.

Mr. Day estimated two years ago that the gun bill would put about 300
to 400 more prisoners annually in federal penitentiaries.

Mr. Boyd thinks the real numbers will be less than that, given the
bill that eventually cleared the Commons was not as tough as the one
the Conservatives originally proposed.

"I'm not sure it will have any impact," said Mr. Boyd, a
criminologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.
"Nothing they have done to date is going to dramatically increase
prison populations."

Mr. Boyd said the only initiative that will make a significant
difference--a proposal to impose minimum mandatory sentences for
drug-related crimes --has still not passed in Parliament.

Two years ago, in their first federal budget, the Conservatives said
that a new medium-security institution and additional
maximum-security space could be needed to house extra prisoners
captured by a host of tougher sentences proposed in the government's
election platform. At the time, Mr. Day pegged the price at somewhere
between $220-million and $245-million over five years.

Mr. Day's office did not respond to a request for updated information
on prisoner projections.